At this time of year, the beekeeping club is preparing the bees for winter.

Honeybees are creatures that are weak to the cold (and heat).
In the hive, the bees gather around the queen bee,
They huddle together to form a "bee ball" to keep warm and try to survive the winter.

To make it easier for the bees to gather in the hive and not spread out too much,
The beekeepers check the number of bees in each hive and adjust the number of frames.

A control panel is placed between the frames to create an area where the bees can gather.

Also, during the cold weather the bees cannot go outside the hive to get food (pollen).
Therefore, they use the nectar they store during the warm seasons when they are still able to move around as food for the winter.

To make it easier for the bees to eat, the nectar caps that have already closed are scraped off.

It's warm in Kumamoto compared to normal for this time of year.
The bees are still active.

In the apiary, the "hairy vetch" seeds planted during the grass cutting in October are
It had grown so much!

We hope that they will become a good source of nectar in the spring!